SPEECH 


ON.   A.  W.    HARRIS, 


OF     WRENTHAM, 


DELIVERED    IN 


onse 


iitfs  of  llassac|peits, 


THURSDAY,  JUNE  18,  1874. 


BOSTON: 
WRIGHT    &    POTTER,   STATE    PRINTERS 


("OIIMJR   OF    MlLK    AND   FEDBKAL    STKKF.TS. 

1874. 


fi  LIBRARY. 


SPEECH 


HON.   A.  W.   HARRIS, 


DELIVERED    IN 


f  4*  J0HS*  of  l^rmniaiitos  of 


THE  LICENSE  BILL  THEN  PENDING, 


THURSDAY,  JUNE  18,  1874. 


BOSTON: 

WRIGHT    &    POTTER,   STATE    PRINTERS, 
CORNER  OF  MILK  AND  FEDERAL  STREETS. 

1874, 


SPEECH. 


MR.  SPEAKER  : 

As  a  member  of  the  Liquor  Committee,  and  a  friend  to  the  present 
Prohibitory  Law,  I  esteem  it  a  duty  as  well  as  a  pleasure  to  lift  my 
voice  in  its  behalf,  and  oppose,  with  all  my  strength,  the  passage  of 
the  bill  now  before  the  House. 

A  few  weeks  ago,  signs  of  mourning  were  seen  in  our  midst,  and 
the  sad  news  was  communicated  of  the  sudden  demise  of  a  familiar 
friend.  The  mourners  went  about  the  streets  and  refused  to  be 
comforted.  Scarce  had  we  ceased  to  regret  what  seemed  to  be 
unavoidable,  when,  lo  !  again  appears  before  our  startled  gaze  the 
well-known  features  of  the  dear  departed,  restored  to  life  and  ani- 
mation. The  dread  cerements  of  the  tomb  are  cast  aside,  and  the 
revivified  spirit  walks  forth  in  all  its  pristine  vigor,  at  once  the 
delight  of  its  parent,  and  the  hope  and  pride  of  its  distinguished 
godfather, — the  Honorable  Judiciary  Committee. 

Well  we  know  the  object  of  this  resuscitation,  and  recognize  the 
signal  for  battle.  The  dead  license-law  project  has  been  galvanized 
into  life,  and  the  repeal  of  the  present  prohibitory  law  has  been 
determined  upon. 

The  present  propositition  is  to  enact  a  license  law,  and  thereby 
legalize  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors.  Being  convinced  that 
any  legislation  tending  to  admit  the  legality  and  respectability  of  a 
traffic  that  is  causing  so  much  misery  and  crime  throughout  our 
land,  is  dangerous  and  wrong,  I  feel  it  my  duty  as  a  citizen  and  a 
member  of  this  legislature  earnestly  and  fearlessly  to  oppose  such 
legislation. 

I  fully  appreciate  my  position  at  this  time,  sir,  and  assure  the 
House  it  is  only  a  strong  sense  of  duty  that  prompts  my  action  and 
nerves  me  .to  the  task  of  confronting  those  ponderous  batteries  of 
eloquence  and  sophistry  that  will  be  concentrated  upon  the  advo- 
cates of  the  prohibitory  law  to  sweep  them  to  destruction.  I  can 
see  in  my  mind's  eye  the  handsome  form  of  the  honorable  mem- 
ber from  the  Seventh  Suffolk,  as,  with  characteristic  self-possession 
he  rises  in  his  seat,  glances  for  an  instant  at  the  ladies'  galley,  and 
then  launches  his  thunderbolts  upon  me.  Scarce  has  the  shock  of 


his  terrific  onslaught  passed  away,  when,  in  the  distance,  appears 
the  agile  form  of  the  eloquent  and  soul-stirring  member  from  Rox- 
bury.  Springing  to  his  feet,  and  pointing  his  finger  with  terrible 
significance,  he  proceeds  to  crush  me  to  atoms  with  his  vehement 
and  bewildering  oratory.  I  can  see  my  quick-witted  friend  and 
neighbor,  the  honorable  member  from  the  Fifth  Suffolk,  rise  at  my 
side,  and  actuated  solely  by  a  sense  of  duty  to  his  noble  constituency, 
level  his  double-shotted  Columbiad  to  demolish  me.  Well  can  I 
exclaim  in  the  language  of  the  immortal  Caesar,  when  the  gleaming 
dagger  pierced  his  flesh,  " Et  tu  Brute"  But,  Mr.  Speaker,  doubly 
fortified  by  the  justice  of  my  cause,  I  shall  dare  to  give  public  utter- 
ance to  my  honest  convictions  upon  this  great  and  important  ques- 
tion, and  risk  the  awful  encounter. 

Mr.  Speaker,  I  propose  to  examine  as  briefly  as  possible  the  char- 
acter of  the  present  prohibitory  law,  its  workings,  and  the  necessity 
for  its  retention. 

I  shall  also  consider  some  of  the. objections  to  it,  as  Avell  as  some 
of  the  arguments  in  favor  of  a  license  law. 

I  maintain  and  assert  the  following  propositions  as  my  platform 
of  principles  : — 

1.  That  the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages  is  a  crime. 

2.  That  a  prohibitory  law  is  required  as  well  for  a  statute  of 
moral  authority  as  for  a  means  for  the  suppression  of  the  crime. 

3.  A  license  law  is  a  recognition  of  the  legality  of  the  crime 
which  only  tends  to  its  increase. 

Now,  sir,  can  it  be  denied  that  intemperance  is  the  greatest  evil 
of  the  present  age? 

I  claim  that  it  is  the  moral  curse  and  ruin  of  a  great  part  of  the 
world.  It  has  countless  victims,  steeped  in  the  most  horrible  misery, 
in  all  classes  of  society.  It  is  a  crime  that  destroys  both  soul  and 
body ;  a  crime  not  only  against  the  individual  whom  it  brings  to  the 
lowest  degradation  of  manhood  and  the  most  terrible  of  deaths,  but 
it  is  a  crime  against  the  family,  against  society,  against  God.  What 
shall  we  say  of  a  traffic  that  is  the  prolific  source  of  all  this  misery, 
crime  and  degradation  ?  Is  it  one  to  be  fostered  and  encouraged  by 
law, or  discountenanced  and  prohibited? 

There  is,  there  can  be,  but  one  answer. 

The  great  and  good  of  all  civilized  lands  have  united  in  denounc- 
ing the  traffic  in  intoxicating  liquors,  as  detrimental  to  the  best 
interests  of  society,  and  demand  its  suppression.  Even  in  heathen 
India,  the  people  clamor  for  its  suppression.  A  monster  petition, 
signed  by  16,200  persons,  was  recently  presented  to  the  Viceroy,  pro- 
testing against  the  rum  traffic,  and  suggesting  as  practical  measures 
of  reform  the  closing  of  all  liquor  shops. 


5 

But,  sir,  the  conviction  is  not  a  new  one,  nor  confined  entirely  to 
the  present  age.  Long  centuries  ago,  wise  nations  became  con- 
vinced that  the  unrestrained  use  of  alcoholic  liquors  was  subversive 
of  morality  and  religion,  and  tended  to  sap  the  foundation  of  all 
law  and  good  government. 

Ever  since  the  art  of  distillation  became  known,  the  world  has 
bemoaned  its  first-born  and  demoralizing  offspring,  alcohol.  In  the 
ninth  century  the  use  of  wine  became  more  generally  known  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  to  use  the  expressive  language  of  the  his- 
torian, '•  hand  in  hand  with  other  vices,  itself  the  head  and  front, 
drunkenness  degenerated  the  church  and  accomplished  the  decline 
of  the  morals  of  the  people." 

I  quote  from  a  letter  addressed  to  the  chairman  of  the  state 
board  of  health  by  O'Carlheim  Guilenstein,  chief  of  the  statistical 
office  of  the  department  of  justice  in  Sweden.  "  In  the  latter  half 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  distilled  spirit  first  became  known  in  the 
country,  and  the  use  of  it  as  a  beverage  gave  the  Regent  occasion, 
as  early  as  1494,  to  issue  a  prohibition  against  it.  These  prohibi- 
tions were  several  times  afterward  proclaimed  by  the  great  social 
reformer,  Gustavus  Vasa.  His  son  and  successor,  King  John  III., 
again  permitted  distillation,  after  which,  it  was  not  long  before  the 
abuse  of  it  spread.  Gustavus  Adolphus,  subsequently,  was  induced 
to  prohibit  the  sale  of  ardent  spirits,"  etc.  The  writer,  after  going 
on  to  give  the  different  fluctuations  of  the  laws  of  Sweden  from 
the  fifteenth  to  the  eighteenth  century,  winds  up  with  the  asser- 
tion "  that  a  vigorously  maintained  prohibition  against  spirits 
proved  the  enormous  benefits  produced  in  moral,  economical, 
and  other  effects  by  abstinence,"  and,  adds  Mr.  Aldrich,  one  of 
the  worthy  members  of  our  state  board  of  health,  "  Thus,  the 
nation  rose  and  fell,  grew  prosperous  and  happy,  miserable  and 
degraded,  as  its  law-makers  restrained,  or  permitted,  the  manufac- 
ture and  sale  of  that  which,  all  along  the  track  of  its  history,  has 
seemed  to  be  the  nation's  curse."  To  show  in  what  estimation  the 
traffic  was  held  by  our  forefathers,  I  will  refer  to  the  action  of  the 
Massachusetts  Colony  in  1646,  who  declared,  "  Forasmuch  as 
drunkenness  is  a  vice  to  be  abhorred  of  all  nations,  especially  of 
those  who  hold  out  and  profess  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  see- 
ing any  strict  law  will  not  prevail  unless  the  cause  be  taken  away,  it 
is  therefore  ordered  by  this  court,  that  no  merchant,  cooper  or  any 
other  person  whatever  shall,  after  the  first  day  of  the  first  month, 
sell  any  wine  under  one-quarter  cask,  etc.,  under  penalty  of  ten 
pounds." 

Thus,  we  see  that  the  demon  of  intemperance  hovered  over  the 
track  of  the  sturdy  Pilgrim,  as  he  sought  refuge  from  persecution 


upon  the  rock-bound  coast  of  our  own  Plymouth,  and  pursued  his 
errand  of  death. 

From  that  time  down  to  within  about  two  decades,  constant 
attempts  have  been  made  by  license  laws  of  every  description  and 
degree  of  stringency  to  abate  the  evils  of  intemperance  and  restrict 
the  traffic  in  intoxicating  beverages.  Every  effort  has  been  futile  ; 
all,  complete  and  ridiculous  failures. 

The  alarming  spread  of  the  vice,  at  length  forced  the  public  mind 
to  the  conviction  that  nothing  short  of  prohibitory  legislation  would 
effect  relief.  Firm  in  the  belief  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
supplement  and  accompany  moral  suasion  with  legal  enactment,  the 
people  of  our  sister  State  placed  a  prohibitory  law  upon  their  statute 
books.  This  law,  with  slight  alterations,  has  stood  the  test  of  time, 
and  to-day  the  beneticial  results  to  the  Pine  Tree  State  can  be  seen 
in  its  improved  morals,  its  mercantile  prosperity  and  in  the  general 
good  order  and  intelligence  of  its  citizens.  Notwithstanding  the 
untruthful  defenders  of  the  rum  interest  assert  that  the  law  has  done 
no  good,  and  that  more  liquor  is  drank  under  it  than  before  its 
enactment,  I  claim,  and  can  prove,  that  the  traffic  in  Maine  is  not 
one-tenth  as  large  as  formerly,  or  before  the  prohibitory  law  was 
enacted.  Who  is  there  so  bold  as  to  dispute  the  assertions  or  ques- 
tion the  integrity  and  judgment  of  those  prominent  officials  and 
citizens  of  Maine,  who  unhesitatingly  declare  that  the  prohibitory 
law  has  been  a  blessing,  and  productive  of  the  most  gratifying 
results?  Are  the  protestations  of  nearly  one  hundred  of  the  most 
distinguished  and  revered  citizens  of  the  State  not  to  be  regarded  as 
good  evidence  of  the  working  of  the  law  ?  Perhaps  those  persons 
who  recklessly  assert  that  the  prohibitory  law  is  a  failure  every- 
where, had  better  stand  up,  pigmies  as  they  are,  and  dispute  suc'h 
men  as  J.  G.  Blaine,  the  talented  speaker  of  our  national  house  of 
representatives,  Lot  M.  Morrell,  Win.  P.  Frye,  Hannibal  Hamlin, 
John  Lynch,  .Peters,  Hale,  governors,  mayors,  city  officers,  state 
officials,  ministers,  and  other  prominent  citizens  of  Maine.  Perhaps 
the  wiseacres  of  Boston  are  ready  to  assert  that  the  mayors  of 
Portland  do  not  know  what  they  are  talking  about,  when  they  cer- 
tify that  (I' quote  their  own  language)  "Many  persons  with  the 
best  means  of  judging,  believe  that  the  liquor  traffic  is  not  one-tenth 
as  large  as  formerly.  We  content  ourselves  with  saying,  that  the 
diminution  of  the  trade  is  veiy  great,  and  the  favorable  effects  of  the 
policy  of  prohibition  are  manifest  to  the  most  casual  observer." 
Signed,  Benjamin  Kingsbury,  W.  W.  Thomas,  Augustus  Stevens, 
J.  J.  McCobb  and  Jacob  McLellan. 

These  gentlemen  are  men  of  experience  in  municipal  affairs, 
truthful,  far-sighted  men,  whose  word  and  judgment  would  be  apt  to 


be  regarded  as  soon  as  that  of  these  distinguished  individuals  who 
make  day  and  night  hideous  with  their  howls  about  the  failure  of  the 
prohibitory  law.  But  how  is  it  with  this  Commonwealth  ?  for  the 
battle  is  here  on  our  own  ground.  Are  we  any  different  from  the 
people  of  Maine  ?  Do  the  citizens  of  Massachusetts  claim  that  they 
are  more  moral,  or  higher  minded,  any  better  able  to  control  them- 
selves without  law  than  the  citizens  of  their  sister  State  ?  If,  after 
twenty  years'  trial  in  Maine,  prohibition  has  reduced  the  liquor 
traffic  ninety  per  cent.,  has  diminished  crime  in  a  corresponding  de- 
gree, has  elevated  the  morals  of  the  people,  and  continues  to  exert  the 
same  good  influence,  why  would  it  not  be  proper  to  claim  that  it  is  a 
good  law  in  Massachusetts,  notwithstanding  the  barefaced  assertions 
to  the  contrary  of  the  liquor  dealers  of  Boston  and  their  subsidized 
organs  ? 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  we  have  indubitable  proof  within  our  own 
borders  that  our  good  old  Commonwealth  has  felt  the  beneficial 
effects  of  this  wholesome  law.  Go  to  the  country  towns,  see  the 
thrift  that  prevails.  Not  one-half  the  liquor  drank  that  used  to  be 
when  license  laws  made  the  business  respectable.  Order  and 
sobriety  are  maintained,  where,  during  the  year  of  license,  it  was 
one  carnival  of  drunkenness  and  crime.  "But,"  says  one,  "you  can 
get  all  the  liquor  you  want  now  in  the  country."  I  answer,  that 
while  one  may  be  able  to  get  all  he  wants  by  sending  to  the  cities, 
or  dodging  into  some  hole  in  the  ground,  or  into  the  cellar  or  back 
room  of  some  disreputable  householder,  yet  many  who  would  drink 
at  a  licensed  saloon  have  still  some  pride  left  that  would  restrain 
them  from  frequenting  those  low,  out-of-the-way  places.  The 
desire  to  drink  is  lessened  by  the  removal  of  the  temptation 
and  the  presence  of  a  healthy  public  sentiment.  The  prohibitory 
law  is  the  offspring  of  public  opinion,  and,  like  a  filial  child, 
strengthens  and  sustains  its  parent. 

Again,  the  prohibitory  law  is  a  statute  of  moral  authority,  and  is 
to  be  regarded  as  an  authoritative  declaration  of  what  good  men 
consider  to  be  right,  though  obedience  to  it  may  not  be  strictly 
enforced. 

Said  a  gentlemen  to  me,  a  few  days  since  :  "  I  employ  thirty 
hands,  and  at  this  time  am  scarcely  ever  troubled  by  reason  of  their 
drunkenness.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  a  common  occurrence,  and 
a  majority  of  them  would  lose,  on  an  average,  one  day  ever3r 
fortnight,  by  reason  of  their  drinking  habits.  I  used  to  pay  orders 
to  rumsellers  to  the  amount  of  three  dollars  per  week  per  man,  and 
now  it  is  almost  unheard  of,  and  very  little  drunkenness  prevails." 
A  similiar  state  of  affairs  exists  in  most  of  the  country  towns  and 
villages. 


8 

What  are  the  results  in  the  city  of  Boston  ?  It  is  claimed  that 
intemperance  is  on  the  increase,  and  corruption  and  vice,  fostered 
and  encouraged  by  the  present  prohibitory  law,  are  degenerating  our 
people  and  bringing  ruin  upon  us.  Ergo,  the  law  is  a  failure.  Let 
us  see  whether  the  facts  bear  out  the  assertion. 

Chief  Savage  in  his  report  for  year  1873,  page  60  of  city  docu- 
ment No.  7,  says  :  "  The  number  of  places  where  intoxicating  liquors 
are  now  sold  in  the  city,  is  reported  by  the  police  captains  to  be 
2,427  ;  some  300  less  than  last  year,  and  about  500  less  than  the  year 
before.  The  average  number  of  persons  arrested  for  drunkenness 
during  the  last  four  years  is  about  ten  per  cent  more  than  the  aver- 
age of  six  former  years,  not  having  kept  pace  with  the  increase  of 
population  by  about  22  per  cent.,  and  the  arrests  from  the  same 
cause  during  1872  and  1873,  are  about  ten  per  cent,  less  than  in 
1870  and  1871,  showing  an  actual  decrease  in  drunkenness  during 
the  past  two  years,  notwithstanding  the  steady  increase  in  popula- 
tion during  that  period."  This  report  is  for  the  year  1873,  ending 
December  21st.  By  the  testimony  of  that  gallant  soldier  and 
honored  citizen,  Commissioner  Bates,  we  find  by  a  careful  census  of 
this  city,  just  completed,  the  number  of  places  where  intoxicating 
liquors  are  sold  is  not  over  1,600.  He  adds,  that  the  cit}*  officers 
are  taking  a  census  for  the  same  purpose,  and  as  the  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  work  have  the  same  means  of  information,  it  is  fair  to 
presume  that  the  accounts  will  agree. 

With  such  a  showing,  who  can  deny  the  efficacy  of  the  present 
prohibitory  law,  or  reasonably  claim  that  it  is  a  failure  ?  Those  who 
pronounce  the  law  a  failure  seem  to  forget  that  the  present  times 
are  fraught  with  unusual  temptations,  and  that  unusual  difficulties 
have  met  the  friends  of  temperance  during  the  last  few  years,  and  if 
there  had  been  no  diminution  of  drinking  houses,  or  no  fewer  arrests 
for  drunkenness,  the  fact  of  there  having  been  no  increase  would  be 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  glorious  success  of  the  law. 

With  the  demoralizing  effects  of  the  war  upon  the  habits  of  the 
people,  the  consequent  mania  for  speculation,  the  extravagance  and 
dissipation  engendered  by  fortunes  suddenly  acquired  and  as  sud- 
denty  lost,  ought  it  not  to  be  a  source  of  congratulation  to  the  citi- 
zens of  Massachusetts,  that  she  has  even  held  in  check  the  monster 
vice  that  always  follows  so  closely  in  the  train  of  such  exciting  and 
demoralizing  causes  ?  Yes,  Mr.  Speaker,  New  England  has  reason 
to  rejoice  that  she  to-day  stands  so  far  ahead  of  other  portions  of 
the  Union  in  point  of  good  order,  sobriety,  intelligence,  and  whole- 
some laws,  and  it  is  a  source  of  congratulation  to-day,  that  most  of 
the  New  England  States  have  adopted  prohibition,  which  has  tended 


9 

in  an  eminent  degree  to  help  maintain  that  exalted  position,  and  let 
her  heed  well  that  she  does  not  turn  back  upon  her  path. 

Sir,  I  may  be  pardoned  for  referring  to  myself  or  my  experiences. 
I  have  resided  during  one  period  of  my  somewhat  eventful  life  in 
the  far  off  land  of  California,  and  in  referring  to  the  institutions 
and  characteristics  of  New  England,  the  land  of  my  nativity,  the 
home  of  my  boyhood,  I  am  reminded  of  the  varied  experiences  of  a 
fourteen  years'  sojourn  in  that  famous  El  Dorado.  I  am  painfully 
reminded  of  some  of  its  striking  and  disagreeable  features  ;  with 
but  the  form  of  law,  and  that  only  in  two  or  three  of  its  principal 
cities,  it  staggered  along  for  years  under  itst  crushing  load  of  law- 
lessness, intemperance  and  crime  ;  no  one  was  safe  within  its  bor- 
ders. The  robber  and  assassin  stood  at  your  door  in  open  daylight 
and  demanded  your  money  or  your  life.  The  purit}-  of  the  ballot- 
box  was  destroyed,  and  all  was  anarchy  and  dire  confusion.  It  was 
then  that  the  terrible  necessity  of  the  "Vigilance  Committee"  was 
made  apparent,  and  the  long  suffering  and  now  thoroughly  aroused 
populace  arose  in  their  terrible  might,  and  death  marked  the  path- 
way of  the  vengeance  of  an  outraged  community. 

He  who  has  witnessed  such  scenes,  can  well  appreciate  the  bless- 
ings of  a  quiet  New  England  life,  under  her  good  and  wholesome 
laws.  He  who  has  seen  the  rum-demon  clutch  and  throttle  his  vic- 
tims one  by  one,  from  his  own  loved  circle  of  friends  ;  he  who  has 
seen  the  gleaming  knife  driven  to  the  hilt  into  the  quivering  flesh  of 
a  dear  friend  by  a  boon  companion  for  an  insult,  given  while  under 
the  influence  of  wine,  can  hardly  fail  to  appreciate  the  good  old 
temperance  laws  and  notions  of  New  England,  or  to  value  a  home 
within  her  borders.  All  this  have  I  seen,  and  more,  and  with  the 
lessons  of  the  past  before  my  eyes,  I  am  fully  warranted  in  claim- 
ing for  this  Commonwealth,  the  home  of  my  adoption,  the  most 
exalted  position  among  her  sister  States  of  the  Union. 

Let  no  one  charge  that  the  prohibitory  law  is  not  essentially  a 
success,  nor  affirm  that  it  has  not  assisted  in  securing  her  this  proud 
preeminence.  But  who  are  the  persons  who  sing  the  well-worn, 
tiresome  song,  that  prohibition  is  a  failure?  Let  me  classify  them. 
The  distinguished  gentleman  who  presides  at  a  North  Street  variety 
booth  and  victualling  cellar ;  he  who,  with  glassy  and  bloodshot 
eyes,  watches  the  drunken  orgies,  and  deals  out  the  scientifically 
prepared  "  food,"  or  (to  use  the  high-flown  language  of  those  who 
advocate  the  use  of  alcohol  as  food)  "the  nutritious  and  narcotic 
stimuli  to  dietetic  alimentation."  Fully  appreciating  the  evil  effects 
of  this  cursed  prohibitory  law,  this  bloated  demon  of  vice  mutters 
curses  between  his  set  teeth  as  the  officer  comes  to  arrest  him,  and 
declares  the  law  a  failure. 
2 


10 

The  saloon-keeper  of  Washington  Street,  as  he  stands  behind  the 
elegantly  ornamented  bar,  adorned  with  silver  service  of  elaborate 
workmanship,  who,  with  stolid  countenance  and  hardened  heart, 
dispenses  "  food  "  to  his  more  fashionable  victims,  will,  with  a  sneer, 
declare  the  law  a  farce  and  a  failure.  The  gentlemanly  rumsellers 
of  our  first-class  hotels  ;  these  pets  of  Boston,  whose  success  is  so 
necessary  to  its  growth  and  mercantile  prosperity ;  these  fashiona- 
ble law-breakers,  whose  commitment  to  prison  for  violation  of  law 
would  cause  civil  war  and  bloodshed,  all  reecho  the  cry  that  the  law 
is  a  failure.  The  politician  who  rejoices  in  a  lucrative  office, — 
secured  to  him  by  the  efforts  of  that  glorious  constituency,  as 
represented  by  the  frequenters  of  the  rum-hells  of  North  Street  on 
the  one  hand,  and  those  who  patronize  the  fashionable  and  first- 
class  hotels  of  Washington,  Tremont  and  School  Streets  on  the 
other, — he,  in  response  to  the  demands  of  those  who  made  him  and 
can  unmake  him,  cries  out  with  alacrity,  "  Prohibition  is  a  failure." 
The  old  worn-out  aspirant  for  political  honors,  after  a  life  spent 
in  tricks,  deceptions,  drinking  and  dissipation,  no  vitality  to  restore 
the  wasted  tissues  of  his  body,  and  with  a  morbid  craving  for  stimu- 
lant, willingly  accepts  the  advice  (oftentimes  demanded)  of  his 
physician,  to  use  alcoholic  drinks,  and  as  he  tremblingly  quaffs  the 
exhilarating  fluid,  shrugs  his  shoulders  and  wisely  exclaims,  "  Neces- 
sary article,"  and  "  Prohibition  is  a  sad  failure."  All  these,  from  the 
highest  to  the  lowest,  join  in  the  cry  that  prohibition  is  a  failure, 
and,  by  their  almost  superhuman  exertions  to  accomplish  the  repeal 
of  the  law,  give  the  lie  to  the  assertion. 

But,  Mr.  Speaker,  there  is  another  class, — good  and  true  men, 
men  of  principle,  temperance  men,  and  there  may  be  many  within 
the  sound  of  my  voice, — who  think  the  prohibitory  law  a  failure. 
While  I  believe  them  to  be  honest  in  their  opinions,  I  do  not  won- 
der that  they  entertain  such  opinions,  in  view  of  the  deceptions 
that  are  resorted  to  by  the  enemies  of  prohibition  to  break  down 
the  law.  When  I  see  a  public  press,  and  there  are  some  noted  and 
honorable  exceptions,  owned  by  and  run  in  the  interest  of  rumsell- 
ers and  rum-drinkers,  circulating  its  garbled  statements  abroad 
over  our  State,  ridiculing  the  earnest  efforts  of  the  faithful  men  and 
women  who  are  striving  to  eradicate  intemperance,  pauperism  and 
crime  from  our  land ;  when  I  see  such  persistent  efforts  by  the 
public  press  to  create  false  impressions  to  subserve  the  interests  of 
rumsellers,  I  do  not  wonder  that  good  men  are  deceived.  No,  Mr. 
Speaker,  I  only  wonder  that  more  are  not  deceived  and  led  away 
by  the  voice  of  that  false  syren  who  lulls  to  a  fatal  sleep.  When, 
from  da}-  to  day,  I  look  over  the  city  papers  and  notice  their 
studious  efforts  to  conceal  whatever  facts  are  elicited  at  the  hear- 


11 

ings  of  the  liquor  committee,  tending  to  prove  the  efficiency  of 
the  prohibitory  law,  of  the  commissioners  and  state  police ;  when 
I  notice  the  avidity  with  which  the  same  journals  seize  upon  and 
give  prominence  to  every  word  uttered  in  disparagement  of  the  law 
and  the  officers  engaged  in  its  execution,  I  do  not  wonder  that  the 
community  are  deceived.  Is  this  the  high-minded  and  honorable 
journalism  that  elevates  the  masses  and  creates  a  pure  moral  senti- 
ment in  the  community?  Can  good  men  and  women  be  much 
longer  deceived  b}*  these  servile  creatures  of  a  rumocrac3r,  these 
sycophantic  scribblers,  who  "  crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee, 
that  thrift  may  follow  fawning"?  For  myself,  Mr.  Speaker,  I 
despise  such  proceedings,  such  deceptions,  and  pity  from  the  very 
depths  of  my  soul  the  unfortunate  individuals  who  are  deceived  by 
them.  Let  the  deceived  ones  ponder  these  facts,  and  come  out  from 
among  the  cold-hearted  throng  who  have  not  the  welfare  of  the 
people  at  heart,  and  only  work  for  gain.  "  Oh,  sordid  love  of  gold, 
when  for  thy  sake  the  fool  throws  up  his  interests  in  both  worlds. 
First  starved  in  this,  then  damned  in  that  to  come." 

And  what  has  been  offered  by  the  advocates  of  license  to  prove 
their  oft-repeated  assertions  that  prohibition  is  a  failure  ?  At  one 
of  the  hearings  of  the  liquor  committee  within  a  few  weeks,  the  now 
notorious  William  A.  Simmons,  then  supervisor  of  the  revenue, 
was  brought  forward,  with  a  great  flourish  of  trumpets,  by  the  young 
attorney  with  a  green  bag,  said  to  be  employed  by  the  Brewer 
Reuter.  This  Reuter  did  not  want  to  be  considered  a  criminal, 
but.  boasted  that  more  beer  was  sold  during  the  time  that  the 
city  authorities  ordered  the  liquor  shops  closed,  upon  the  occasion 
of  the  great  fire,  than  for  the  same  time  before  or  since. 

This  Simmons  was  brought  forward,  with  his  books,  to  prove  that 
the  number  of  rum-shops  had  increased  in  1872,  and  consequently 
the  report  of  Chief  Savage  was  a  misstatement.  He  (Simmons) 
stated  that  about  3,200  licenses  had  been  granted,  or  that  the  gov- 
ernment had  received  tribute  from  3,200  persons  during  the  year 
1872  in  the  city  of  Boston.  Look  at  the  unblushing  effrontery  of 
this  distinguished  individual,  that  Boston  has  had  thrust  upon  her 
against  the  wishes  of  her  most  respectable  merchants  and  respon- 
sible citizens.  This  bold  man,  this  Christian  soldier,  failed  to  tell 
'the  committee  that  the  number  did  not  represent  the  different  places 
where  liquor  was  sold,  but  gave  us  to  understand  that  such  was  the 
case,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  traffic  had  increased,  and  not  de- 
creased, as  Chief  Savage  reported  from  2,700  to  2,400  saloons  dur- 
ing the  year  1872.  We  were  led  to  infer,  and  the  inferences  were 
appropriated  by  the  opponents  of  the  law,  that  3,200  liquor  shops 
were  in  existence,  but  it  turned  out  that  there  were  several  succes- 


12 

sive  proprietors  to  each  saloon ;  that  extra  licenses  were  granted 
to  the  uncles,  cousins,  and  relatives  to  the  third  and  fourth  degree 
of  those  saloon  keepers  who  had  been  once  prosecuted,  and  feared 
to  risk  the  clutches  of  the  law  on  a  second  offence,  and  a  half-dozen 
of  them  may  have  been  taken  out  for  the  same  place.  How  is  this 
for  the  honest  opponents  of  the  prohibitory  law,  who  claim  it  a 
failure,  and  support  the  claim  by  such  disgraceful  means? 

Again,  at  one  of  our  hearings,  the  heroic  defender  of  this  would- 
be  respectable  traffic,  who  "  once  advocated  temperance  from  prin- 
ciple, but  now  defends  rum  for  money,"  the  brave  pettifogger  was 
present,  with  his  ubiquitous  green  bag  crammed  with  important 
statistics,  consisting  mainly  of  letters  from  police  judges  from  the 
different  cities  of  the  State.  It  seems  he  had  taken  especial  pains 
to  obtain  reports  of  the  number  of  arrests  for  drunkenness  for  the 
past  few  years  in  those  cities,  in  order  to  calculate  the  percentage 
of  increase  in  drunkenness  in  those  places,  as  a  basis  for  his  erro- 
neous assertion  that  the  percentage  of  increase  of  drunkenness  was 
greater  than  the  percentage  of  increase  of  population  in  the  whole 
Commonwealth.  Having  made  selection  of  a  dozen  or  so  reports 
showing  such  increase,  he  proceeded  to  read  them,  and  with  a  great 
flourish  blatantly  proclaimed  to  the  committee  and  an  admiring 
crowd  of  sympathizers  that  this  was  the  result  of  our  disgraceful 
prohibitory  law.  And  as  his  cheek  glowed  with  pride  at  the  ap- 
proving glances  and  marks  of  approbation  of  his  friends,  he  launched 
forth  his  thunderbolts  of  defiance  against  any  who  should  dare 
execute  "the  law  in  the  city  of  Boston.  This,  sir,  is  about  the  s.ub- 
stance  of  all  the  evidence  that  was  brought  forward  to  establish  the 
failure  of  the  prohibitory  law,  although  hours  were  taken  up  in 
depicting  the  immense  amount  of  bribery  and  corruption  that  ex- 
isted in  the  force  engaged  in  its  execution.  We  were  told  that  on 
account  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  law,  no  officer  of  the  force 
could  keep  honest,  and  for  that  reason,  if  no  other,  they  demanded 
its  repeal ;  that  it  corrupted  the  courts,  demoralized  the  juries, 
clogged  the  wheels  of  justice,  outraged  the  moral  sentiment  of  the 
community,  and  should  be  stricken  from  the  statute  books  of  the 
Commonwealth.  Sir,  is  it  possible  that  such  false  assertions,  such 
flimsy  arguments,  such  distorted  reports,  can  be  of  any  weight  in 
the  minds  of  a  thoughtful  and  intelligent  people  ? 

What  says  General  Bates,  the  chairman  of  the  board  of  police 
commissioners?  "  We  have  as  honest  and  effective  a  force  of  state 
police  as  can  be  found  in  the  whole  country,  and  they  are  nobly 
doing  their  duty.  We  have  weeded  out  the  dishonest  members, 
and  at  this  time  the  machinery  is  working  splendidly.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  board  are  in  sympathy  and  hearty  cooperation,  and  we 


13 

are  driving  the  rumsellers  into  their  holes,  where,  if  we  cannot  get 
them  out  any  other  way,  we  will  smoke  them  out."  The  commis- 
sioner further  says,  "  I  believe  in  the  prohibitory  law,  with  all  my 
heart.  I  believe  it  is  doing  more  good  than  anything  else  to  stay 
the  progress  of  drunkenness,  and,  notwithstanding  the  obstacles 
thrown  in  the  way  of  its  enforcement,  has  done  and  is  doing  a  vast 
deal  of  good  in  the  community.  Do  not,"  says  the  commissioner, 
"  repeal  a  law  that  has  just  reached  the  point  of  its  greatesl  effec^ 
tiveness."  Other  distinguished  witnesses  at  our  committee  hear- 
ings testified  to  the  beneficial  effects  of  the  law,  and  the  facts  elic- 
ited have  been  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  its  continuance.  "  But," 
says  one,  "  I  like  no  interference  with  my  liberty,"  and  he  proudly 
quotes  John  Stuart  Mill,  who  says,  "  All  laws  are  wrong  that  would 
deprive  any  man  from  exercising  his  social  rights  "  ;  that  the  right 
to  take  a  glass  of  liquor  is  a  mere  personal  consideration,  the  mere 
exercise  of  a  social  right,  that  no  legislation  can  control  or  prevent. 
To  this  I  answer,  in  the  language  of  the  same  distinguished 
authority  :  "  Whenever  there  is  a  definite  damage  or  definite  risk 
of  damage,  either  to  to  the  individual  or  to  the  public,  the  case  is 
taken  out  of  the  province  of  liberty  and  placed  in  that  of  morality 
or  law."  Does  the  admirer  of  Stuart  Mill  adopt  all  of  his  idol's  ideas, 
and  join  him  in  his  condemnation  of  all  Sabbatarian  legislation,  all 
legislation  against  gambling  and  fornication?  Another  exclaims, 
that  drinking  or  selling  liquor  is  not  a  crime,  per  se.  But  we  reply 
that  this  has  no  pertinancy  when  applied  to  the  use  or  sale  of  what 
does  a  positive  injury  to  one's  self  or  the  public.  There  is  no  per 
se  about  it.  But,  sir,  it  is  unnecessary  to  reiterate  the  arguments  of 
those  who  oppose  prohibition,  or  spend  time  in  refuting  them.  It  is 
to  me  clear  that  the  majority  of  those  who  oppose  the  prohibitory 
law  are  striving  to  justify  themselves  in  a  wrong,  and  for  this 
paltry  purpose  are  willing  to  sacrifice  the  best  interests  of  society. 
It  is  claimed  by  a  great  many  persons,  that  even  admitting  there 
was  need  of  this  law,  and  that  it  did  cause  a  diminution  of  drunken- 
ness, yet  it  costs  too  much  by  way  of  corruption,  and  American 
citizens  would  not  be  driven.  "  It  might  do  under  a  despotic  gov- 
ernment, or  in  country  towns,  but  not  in  large  cities  of  America." 
Sir,  Massachusetts  pays  too  much  for  her  prisons  and  poor-houses 
to  be  told  by  any  one  that  she  must  not  spend  a  little  money  in  the 
enforcement  of  a  prohibitory  law, — a  law  to  prevent  the  expendi- 
ture of  a  thousand  times  larger  amount  in  the  care  of  the  criminals 
and  paupers  furnished  by  the  infamous  rum  traffic.  The  odium  of 
such  a  law,  of  which  many  of  the  leading  papers  of  Boston  stand  in 
dread,  is  in  proportion  to  the  drunkenness  and  demoralization  that 
require  it,  and  which  would  disappear  were  the  law  properly  en- 


14 

forced.  I  can  well  understand  why  the  prominent  opposition 
papers  of  Boston  should  wish  to  throw  discredit  upon  a  prohibitory 
law  ;  but  why  cover  opposition  to  it  with  the  contradictory  and  un- 
tenable assumption  that  it  is  not  needed,  and  if  it  were,  cannot  be 
enforced?  We  are  called  upon  to  repeal  the  present  law  and  enact 
a  license  law,  a  permissive  law,  or  a  local  option  law.  What  is  there 
to  choose  between  them  ?  They  all  mean  respectability  to  the  traffic 
in  intoxicating  drinks ;  and,  as  I  stated  in  the  outset,  I  am  opposed 
to  any  and  all  license  laws.  For  two  hundred  years  the  experiment 
has  been  tried  without  success.  It  has  been  a  miserable  failure  and 
tended  to  increase  the  evils  of  intemperance  rather  than  diminish 
them.  And  why  not?  With  the  direct  sanction  of  the  law  the 
traffic  becomes  respectable  and  intrudes  its  filthy  presence  into 
every  community,  while  ruin  and  desolation  mark  its  pathway 
throughout  the  land.  How  was  it  with  the  attempt  in  St.  Louis, 
three  years  since,  to  regulate  the  social  evil  b}-  license  ?  It  was 
asserted  that  a  license  law,  with  restrictive  provisions,  would  miti- 
gate and  diminish  the  evil.  It  was  claimed  that  upon  sanitary  con- 
siderations it  would  be  of  benefit  to  the  community  and  bring 
revenue  to  the  government.  Sir,  did  it  accomplish  the  desired 
result?  Did  it  do  what  was  promised  for  it?  No,  sir,  it  had  a 
directly  opposite  result. 

Houses  of  prostitution  that  before  sought  refuge  from  the  gaze  of 
an  enlightened  and  virtuous  community,  and  shrank  from  sight  in 
unfrequented  streets  and  dark  alle3's,  came  out  brazen-faced  and 
defiant.  Protected  by  law,  the  foul  business  spread,  and  was  carried 
on  in  marble  fronts  in  the  most  conspicuous  places.  Temptations 
were  placed,  far  and  near,  to  draw  the  }-outh  and  the  unwary  into  the 
seething  vortex  of  corruption.  The  result  can  be  easily  imagined  : 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  such  hideous  mien, 
That  to  be  hated  needs  but  to  be  seen ; 
But  seen  too  oft  familiar  with  its  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

The  experiment  has  proved  an  ignominious  failure.  An  outraged 
communit}-  rose  in  their  indignation  and  swept  away  the  inno- 
vation— just  as  the  good  people  of  this  Commonwealth  will  do  a 
license  liquor  law,  if  it  it  is  forced  upon  them  by  the  schemes  and 
money  of  the  liquor  dealers.  It  may  be  true  that  license  men  are 
in  the  majority  in  this  legislature,  but  if  so  it  is  morally  certain 
that  it  is  not  a  fair  representation  of  the  true  sentiments  of  Massa- 
chusetts upon  this  subject.  It  may  be  that  the  friends  of  temper- 
ance have  depended  too  much  upon  the  law  to  do  the  work  without 
their  active  aid  in  its  execution.  It  may  be  that  our  enemies  have 


15 

stolen  a  march  upon  us,  and  have  packed  this  legislature  for  its 
overthrow.  But,  sir,  let  them  beware  how  they  trifle  with  the  feel 
ings  of  the  people.  Let  Boston  take  heed  lest  she  in  the  fulness  of 
her  pride  and  power  give  herself  into  the  hands  of  a  depraved  and 
besotted  element,  that  would  deprive  her  of  her  glory  and  renown, 
and  lead  her  down  to  destruction.  Let  her  beware  how  she  yields 
to  the  fascinations  of  that  fiend  who  would  tear  down  her  bulwarks 
of  safety  and  make  her  noble  institutions  of  charity,  learning  and 
religion  a  mockery  and  a  by-word.  Sir,  this  is  no  idle  warning,  for 
just  so  sure  as  she  persists  in  her  attempts  to  set  at  naught  good 
and  wholesome  laws  at  the  dictation  of  the  rabble,  who  would 
ignore  all  law,  just  so  sure^will  the  day  of  trouble  be  upon  her,  and 
the  fate  of  Troy  be  hers.  Listen  to  the  prophecy : — 

"  That  day  shall  come,  that  great  avenging  day, 
When  Troy's  proud  ruins  in  the  dust  shall  lay ; 
When  Priam's  power  and  Priam's  self  shall  fall, 
And  one  o'erwhelming  ruin  cover  all." 

I  call  upon  the  members  of  this  legislature  to  stand  by  the  pro- 
hibitory law  and  set  their  seal  of  condemnation  upon  any  efforts  to 
deprive  the  families  of  this  Commonwealth  of  the  only  protection 
they  have  against  the  evils  of  the  liquor  traffic.  They  have  tried 
in  vain  under  license  laws,  and  now,  when  they  are  beginning  to  feel 
relief,  and  the  long-sought  results  are  being  experienced,  will  you 
take  away  their  only  hope  ?  Let  it  not  be  said  that  you  turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  wails  of  the  poor  victims  of  intemperance  ;  the  anguish- 
ing cries  of  heart-broken  widows  and  orphans  throughout  the  land. 
Are  you  a  father,  and  can  you  contemplate  the  ruin  of  a  loved  son 
by  intemperance  with  indifference,  or  fail  to  try  every  means  to 
keep  him  from  temptation  ?  As  good  citizens,  can  you  fail  to  give 
your  encouragement  to  a  law  that  makes  a  crime  of  a  traffic  that  is 
causing  nine-tenths  of  all  poverty,  wretchedness  and  crime  with 
which  society  is  cursed  ? 

A  license  law  is  a  recognition  of  a  great  wrong,  and  an  indorse- 
ment of  crime.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  Massachusetts  countenances 
and  indorses  any  law  that  would  tend  to  increase  the  degradation 
that  exists  within  her  borders. 

Let  her  guard  well  the  trust  that  is  confided  to  her  care.  Let  her 
legislators  beware  how  they  repeal  a  law  that  is  the  only  bright  hope 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  is  a  holy  trust,  which,  like  the  sacred 
vessels  of  the  Lord,  must  not  be  touched  with  impious  hands.  When 
the  proud  Eastern  monarch  profaned  those  sacred  vessels,  the  hand- 
writing appeared  upon  the  wall,  and  Babylon  and  Belshazzar  were 
no  more. 


16 

Let  us  cling  to  this  blessed  law  as  to  the  ark  of  our  safety.  Our 
noblest  sons  testify  that  it  is  fraught  with  more  home  comforts  and 
substantial  prosperity  than  any  edict,  ordination  or  legislative  Act  that 
can  be  pointed  to  in  the  whole  history  of  man.  Its  benefits  and 
blessings  are  on  record,  and  constitute  the  brightest  page  in  the 
history  of  this  Commonwealth.  Let  one  and  all  rally  around  the 
banner  of  prohibition,  march  with  firmness  and  determination  to 
battle  for  the  right.  Fight  hard  and  valiantly  for  your  homes  and 
your  firesides,  your  loved  ones  and  suffering  humanity,  and  victory 
shall  be  yours. 


